I ran across the following saying in a crossword puzzle: “Let a smile be your umbrella.” I immediately turned to my computer in search of the origin of this phrase. As it turns out, it’s a song from 1927 and later recorded and made popular by Bing Crosby in 1957. With all that’s going on in our world today, I think this phrase serves as a powerful reminder of how YOU ultimately determine your attitude in life.

As complex and difficult as life can be, happiness is really not that complicated. The human smile is an incredibly powerful stimulus for creating happiness. Just offer a big smile to a baby and you’ll see Mother Nature’s contagious and natural reaction in that innocent little baby’s face as he or she smiles right back at you. So whoever or whatever it is that you’re battling today, don’t underestimate the power of the human smile. As that old song proclaims, it makes a great umbrella!